‘Carmageddon’ in Los Angeles; California vs. Amazon.com; and more humane conditions for egg-laying hens.

How Angelenos roll

Re “Our way is the freeway,” Opinion, July 11

Now that Gregory Rodriguez has romanticized the sense of “community” we all feel as we sit in traffic on the 405 breathing exhaust fumes — or rather, sitting with the windows rolled up glaring straight ahead — I am looking forward to his ode to some of the other pleasant things in life. Like, say, the olfactory delights of raw sewage or the wonderful camaraderie we have with our dentist during root canal surgery.

Seriously though, do freeways really make us “free” if we do not also build infrastructure for transportation alternatives in Los Angeles?

John Lloyd

Sierra Madre

To extol L.A.’s freeway system tells me that Rodriguez is not thinking about our future. Global warming, energy dependence and air pollution are problems we face as a result of our car dependency. Freeways are an integral part of our problem.

It is time to put a price on our roads. The hours spent stuck in traffic are a serious drain on our productivity. If I have to drive, I would prefer to spend a few dollars on tolls knowing that I could move quickly to my destination.

The 405 widening project will increase air pollution because traffic will increase. This means more respiratory damage.

It’s time for congestion pricing, not more highway building.

Len Conly

Berkeley

It must have been in the early 1960s that I flew through L.A. International Airport on a business trip. I had been watching the construction of the 405 for months. The white concrete strip was vacant except for a contractor’s pickup truck and other odds and ends.

Three days later, the 405 had opened, so I opted to drive on it after I returned to L.A. I was surprised to see how crowded it had become in only a few days. At Mulholland Drive, the traffic slowed to stop-and-go, and it has not changed since.

John Roberts

San Clemente

The way of Amazon

Re “Not just taxes at stake in Amazon battle,” July 13

Taxation changes behavior. Regardless of where they stand on taxation, people and small businesses respond in ways that best interest them. Amazon is no different.

I had a football coach in high school who once gave me a lecture on “methods versus motives.” He explained that sometimes it is easier to understand a person’s methods if you understood their motives, and vice-versa. When it comes to the Amazon tax, it is nearly impossible to comprehend Democrats’ intentions.

Micah Grant

Los Angeles

Though Amazon might have an argument about its presence in California when talking about its association to a website hosted in Ohio but owned by a resident of California, once it has entered our referendum process, its presence in California is clear. Now that Amazon has chosen to influence California law, it should collect sales taxes.

Keith Price

Los Angeles

One reason people buy online is that California’s sales tax is way too high. So here’s a novel idea: Let’s abolish the sales tax. The public would benefit from lower prices, retailers would save mega-bucks on their accounting and Internet retailers would lose their advantage.

More commerce in our state would stimulate our economy and might compensate for the loss of revenue.

Michael R. Gale

Pacific Palisades

Hens deserve better conditions

Re “All eggs in one humane basket,” Editorial, July 11

Many of us in the animal protection movement are appalled at the deal struck by the Humane Society of the United States with United Egg Producers to cease campaigning for cage-free housing for egg-laying hens in favor of “enriched” cages with tiny perches and “nestboxes” consisting of plastic mats and a few extra inches of space.

Activists working for decades to eliminate battery cages have been knocked for a loop by this pact. It may be good for the egg industry and for the Humane Society, but for the hens and the signature-gatherers, it’s a wrenching betrayal.

Once the egg industry spends $4 billion to convert from conventional cages to “enriched” ones, the cage system for egg-laying hens will stand for the remainder of the 21st century and beyond. People wishing to help these hens should reduce or eliminate their egg consumption.

Karen Davis

Machipongo, Va.

The writer is president of United Poultry Concerns.

If the new agreement between the Humane Society and United Egg Producers will help reduce animal suffering, then I’m all for it. Personally, though, I both help hens and maintain my health by eating tofu scrambler and other vegan foods instead of eggs. I cook with an egg substitute that mimics what eggs do in baked goods, pancakes and other recipes. It’s cholesterol-free, like all vegan foods, and it’s 100% cruelty-free. You can’t say that about cage-free eggs.

Laura Frisk

Encinitas

Teachers don’t need more tips

Re “UTLA’s role in reform,” Opinion, July 10

Thank you for publishing yet another essay giving advice to teachers. This includes no specifics, just multiple rephrasings of its central idea that United Teachers Los Angeles is “anti-reform.”

First, the standardized tests that our students take were not designed to be used to evaluate teachers. Second, laying off thousands of teachers is an attack on all teachers and students; suggesting that getting rid of seniority will somehow “fix” such an educational cataclysm is ridiculous. Finally, charter schools take public money away from the public school system with no better results than “traditional” schools. To suggest that charters are a model for reform is misleading.

Here’s a radical idea: Fully fund education. As the old poster says, “It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”

Brad Jones

Santa Monica

Ray Reisler and Leslie Gilbert-Lurie poignantly remind us that our city’s children will suffer as long as we fail to learn from better models. Many teachers unions across the country are progressive and collaborative, not stubborn and reactive as UTLA has been for some time.

Although we all hope that UTLA’s new leadership will “get on board,” our best strategy is to help local communities claim their rightful seat at the policymaking table and move forward the agenda for improving our city’s schools.

The most powerful advocates for education reform are those who will benefit the most from it: parents and students.

Yolie Flores

Los Angeles

The writer, a former L.A. school board member, is chief executive of Communities for Teaching Excellence.

Section 8 woes

Re “The Antelope Valley war,” Editorial, July 10

I am in favor of programs such as Section 8 to help families, but your categorization of enforcement here in the Antelope Valley as overzealous is uninformed.

Those “rigorous background checks” have given my neighborhood drug dealers and multiple families with many kids in a Section 8 home. There’s little interest in yard maintenance, leaky vehicles on the street and unsupervised kids playing outside at all hours, and an increase in tagging. Homeowners suffer.

As a neighborhood watch block captain, I have had to call the sheriff’s office and code enforcement many times because of obvious violations. If people are being harassed, it’s probably due to their own behavior. Maybe on paper these folks are good neighbors, but in our experience, we’ve had nothing but headaches.

G.A. Tamblyn

Palmdale

Our immigrants

Re “Give me your skilled …,” Opinion, July 13

Peter Schuck has an alarmingly snobbish view of what it takes to be a good American.

By his reckoning, someone with a high school education has little to offer this country. I wonder how much education and money his ancestors had when they reached America. I know mine had almost none, yet their offspring include doctors, lawyers and teachers.

If we limit access to foreigners with fat bank accounts and college degrees, we lose much more than we gain.

Pamela Hartman

Los Angeles